Please Remain Seated
by aliarose
Summary: A guy on a plane, a girl in the bathroom.


Title: Please Remain Seated Until the Fasten Seatbelt Sign Has Been Turned Off  
Author: alianora  
Rating: PG  
Note: Please blame M. Always, lately. But she is writing stripper!fic, and I am forced to write this in retaliation. Or something.

He shifted impatiently outside the bathroom door. Whoever was in there had been in there for at least ten minutes. And it wasn't like there was a whole lot of room out here. He had already had to flatten himself to the wall twice to let the attendant pass by with the drinks cart.

He shifted again, as he had filched a few small bottles of liquor off the cart, and now he needed the bathroom worse than he had ten minutes ago.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and tried to think of other things.

Chords for his latest song. Shoes. Porn.

Charlie hastily took his hands out of his pockets. Thinking of porn while needing to pee equals a really bad combination. Check.

Finally, he leaned forward and banged on the door. "Hello? Anybody alive in there?"

A muffled voice (female, he noted) sniffled, "I'll be right out!"

Uh oh.

He gentled his voice. "Hey, you ok in there?"

A watery laugh met his ear where he was pressed up against the door. "Yeah. I just..need a minute."

He patted the door worriedly. "You take all the time you need, miss. Don't you worry about me."

Another minute passed, and from his vantage point of plastered-against-the-door, he could hear the muffled sniffs that symbolized a woman trying to cry quietly.

"So," he said conversationally. "What's your sign?"

Startled silence met this question.

"Not a good line?" He thought for a second. "If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?"

A faint giggle escaped from the bathroom.

"No?"

"No!"

He drummed his fingers on the door. "Hmm. Give me a second."

Silence. He could almost see the unknown voice raising an eyebrow as she waited.

"You must be tired, cause you have been running through my head all day!" He announced gleefully.

A definite laugh greeted that one.

"Umm." He usually just used, "Hi, I'm in DriveShaft," but that wasn't what he was going for here. "Excuse me, do you have any raisins?"

"Raisins?" The voice sounded totally bewildered (and now he could pick up a little bit of an accent. She wasn't from England. That was for sure). "Why would I have raisins? I'm in a bathroom!"

He struck a pose, not caring that she couldn't see him. "How about a date?"

Silence. He could feel the amazed stare through the door. And then came the giggling.

He gave a cocky grin to the attendant as she walked by and gave him a funny look. It wasn't his fault he was stuck to the door, now was it? If they had made their doors thinner, he wouldn't have to be this close to it. So really, it was the airline's fault.

The girl in the bathroom was still laughing, and he couldn't help noticing that A) she sounded young and B) she had a great laugh.

He rested his forehead against the cold door and grinned smugly at it.

"So," he propped his chin on the back of one hand. "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"

A snort. "You don't even want to know." She sounded resigned. "You wouldn't believe me anyway."

"Aw, come on. You would be amazed at what I would believe."

The door sighed. "Well, lets just say it was some bad luck, combined with dumb choices and a guy."

"I thought most guys brought the dumb choices with them?"

"Well, it would have been nice if someone had told ME about that, before the dumb choices or the guy." The voice was getting watery again.

"Hey now, none of that," he scolded. "I just got you smiling again."

A small sniffle and the sound of a blown nose. "Sorry."

"No apologies." He smiled at the door. "You feeling a little better?"

"Yeah, a little."

"See, my mum was wrong. I am good for _something_!" Charlie puffed out his chest proudly.

"Yes, you are wonderful at cheering up strange girls locked in bathrooms. That will look great on your resume."

"Hey," he defended. "Don't knock it. Its not everyday I get to pick up girls I haven't even seen before."

"Oh." An embarrassed laugh. "You wouldn't want to pick me up. I'm not your type."

"You're female, aren't you?" He frowned at the door.

"Well, yes."

"Then, trust me, you are my type!"

"Look," she sounded unsure. "I really appreciate you talking to me." Her voice turned rueful. "I'm kind of a mess right now. I'll be out in a minute, ok? I just want to wash my face."

"You take your time, love. I'll just run down to the other toilet." He raised an eyebrow at the door. "You sure you're ok, now?"

"Yeah. I'm going to be just fine."

"Good." He nodded. "Good." He peeled himself off the door and started slowly away.

"Thanks."

The voice was so quiet he almost didn't hear it. But he stopped and ran his fingers down the door in something that was almost a caress. "No problem, love."

He rested his hand against the door for another second, imagining her hand pressed up against the other side to meet it.

Dropping his hand when no other sound was forthcoming, he shook his head at his own foolishness and headed down the aisle to the other toilet.

By the time he was finished, the girl was gone.

He scanned the passengers, but there was no way to tell who she might have been.

As he settled back into his seat, he hummed to himself.

He tugged his battered notebook from his pocket, and starts to work on the new song.

"She sits and cries alone, thinking that she's all alone. But he is waiting for her, on the other side of the door."


End file.
